Election kidnap investigation completed

Police have completed their investigation into the alleged kidnapping of a 16-year-old accused of defacing Maori Party billboards during the election campaign.

Police spokesperson Noreen Hegarty said they passed the file over to their legal team last week.

"The investigation has been pretty much completed and the summary of the findings have been sent to our legal section for advice," Ms Hegarty said.

She said the next step would be up to the legal experts which "could be a range of things or it could be nothing".

Police investigated claims the teenage boy, who was doing campaign work for former Labour MP John Tamihere, was kidnapped after being caught defacing Maori Party billboards with Labour stickers in September.

Mr Tamihere and the youth's mother claimed the boy was bundled into a car and driven around Auckland to remove the offending stickers.

He was also taken to west Auckland, at midnight or later, to apologise to Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples.

The Maori Party accused Mr Tamihere of hiring the boy to deface the billboards in the Auckland seat of Tamaki Makaurau, a claim he denied.

He apologised for the boy's actions but said the reaction was excessive.

Mr Tamihere lost the electorate to Dr Sharples on election night.

- NZPA